Sir Fred rejects pension cut calls

Royal Bank of Scotland shareholders have reacted angrily after Sir Fred Goodwin refused to hand back any of his £703,000 annual pension.

They delivered a stinging rebuke at the bank's annual general meeting by overwhelmingly voting down a remuneration report which included provision for the payout.

The vote is not legally binding and has no impact on Sir Fred's pension.

Shareholder Cornelius Cagney hit out at Sir Fred's "naked greed" following the meeting in Edinburgh. "He was in a position of power and it's greed - naked greed," he said. "They don't care about the ordinary person, you can say what you like, they don't even think about it."

Sources indicated Sir Fred told the bank he would not hand back any of the pension despite earlier assurances from the bank's chairman he was thinking about whether to make a reduction.

Sir Philip Hampton said he had asked Sir Fred about such a move only weeks ago and that the former boss was considering it.

The embattled banking group, which is now majority-owned by the Government, announced earlier that the 2,700 staff previously earmarked to be axed were "not the end of the story".

RBS has posted the biggest UK loss in corporate history - £24.1 billion - and is majority owned by the taxpayer after a £20 billion payout last October.

Sir Fred's legacy drew much of the criticism at Friday's meeting, with one shareholder branding him a benefits scrounger. Describing RBS as a "dead bank on life-support", the shareholder added: "He's a benefit scrounger on a massive scale. When a benefit scrounger is caught out he has to pay it back - it has to be payback time."

Sir Philip told the audience the former boss's pension contract was legal but added: "We're looking at that contract to see if there are any opportunities for redress."